The Reef

She sat on an aging dock dipping her toes into the quiet water and watching it lap at the crusty planks that made up the structure. Her eyes followed ancient letters hurriedly scrawled, each giving details about a life. History was etched in the wood and covered with a film of salt similar to dusty memories.

The wind laughed in her ears, mocking her with its cold, shrill voice. Nearby, the bells on the buoys clanged together, shrieking about the peril that lay below. She shut her eyes and let her mind drift away. Her cheek brushed the rough post which anchored her to everything she knew as real.

The reef was a hidden tropical paradise. Life was everywhere, breathing so loudly that its conversation was impossible to ignore. Fish flew around her as she swam through, dancing in the bubbles from her snorkel. She could see them laughing to themselves as they begged her to chase after them. Her lungs begged for air. The corners of her mask were starting to get darker than she’d like. She started her slow ascent into the world of technology once again before the tunnel in her mask closed completely.

Her lungs begin screaming and she ignores them for one final look at the fish around her.

Silence. In an instant, the colors of the reef are gone; the fish using every available piece of camouflage to hide in the garden of coral surrounding their homes. Panic floods her body with more force than a hurricane as her head breaks the calm surface of the water.

She inflates her lungs, stretching them as much as possible for the dive ahead of her. She glances toward the shore, a distant bump in the distance and prepares to go under once again.

Chaos from the disappearance of the fish echoes around her in silence as she submerges the top of her snorkel.

Panicked creatures swim by her creating a whirlwind of bubbles and current. Instinctively she follows them.

The bite was white hot. Blood curled around her in interesting plumes of red similar to paint highly diluted in water.